http://manyfinancenews.com One small blog in a big financial world Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:06:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Facing firm demands from the European Union and financial markets to cut its deficit, Greece announced cost-cutting measures Wednesday that will save the debt-challenged country €4.8 billion, $6.53 billion, this year. The Greek government plans to cut civil service workers' entitlements by 12%. This includes a 30% decrease ... http://manyfinancenews.com/greece-outlines-plan-to-cut-massive-deficit/ Banks have pared their reliance on central banks and governments for liquidity support as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression ebbs, according to a study by the Bank for International Settlements. “The take up of many measures has declined,” economist Petra Gerlach wrote in the ... http://manyfinancenews.com/bis-says-banks-paring-reliance-on-central-banks-governments/ Simon Property Group Inc. late Wednesday reiterated its interest in buying General Growth Properties Inc. despite General Growth’s announcement that it has reached a $2.6 billion equity deal with Brookfield Asset Management Inc. If approved by a bankruptcy court judge, the deal announced Feb. 23 by Chicago-based General Growth ... http://manyfinancenews.com/simon-says-it-still-wants-to-buy-general-growth/ Bills that would change intrastate access charges — the fees phone companies charge each other for their customers' in-state long-distance calls. HB1750 > Introduced by Rep. Timothy Jones, R-Eureka — This one has already passed the House and has been sent to the Senate. It would reduce intrastate ... http://manyfinancenews.com/phone-legislation/ President Obama will sign an executive order Thursday to set up a bipartisan fiscal commission to weigh proposals to rein in the soaring federal debt, according to a White House official.The official, who requested anonymity because the President has not made the announcement yet, said the co-chairs of ... http://manyfinancenews.com/obama-to-create-debt-commission-thursday/ The biggest gathering of the global mobile phone industry begins on Monday in Barcelona, and much of the talk will be about the company that is not there: Apple. Its iPhone has been imitated by larger competitors like Samsung Electronics, Nokia, LG and Research In Motion. All ... http://manyfinancenews.com/though-absent-apple-permeates-barcelona-show/ Americans backed off from their holiday spending pace in January, but retail sales rose for a third month in a row compared with a year earlier, largely because of higher gas prices, according to figures released Wednesday. Analysts expect the modest spending pace to improve, though it ... http://manyfinancenews.com/spending-more-modest/ Solar power company GreenVolts Inc. hired Uday Bellary as its chief financial officer. Bellary worked previously at Atrica Inc., where he was CFO and helped the company raise $34 million in equity and debt. That company was ultimately bought by Nokia Siemens Network. He was also CFO of Metro ... http://manyfinancenews.com/greenvolts-hires-cfo/ Greece’s biggest union approved the second mass strike this month and tax collectors began a 48-hour walkout, showing that Prime Minister George Papandreou’s parliamentary majority may not be enough to implement his plan to cut the European Union’s largest deficit. GSEE, which represents about 2 million workers ... http://manyfinancenews.com/greece%e2%80%99s-biggest-union-sets-strike-threatens-cuts/ Shares of Macy’s Inc. fell about 1 percent Monday afternoon after a Deutsche Bank analyst downgraded the stock to “hold” from “buy.” According to a MarketWatch report, analyst Bill Dreher Jr. said the department store chain’s “My Macy’s” initiative, which consolidated merchandising and tailored it to local markets, hasn’t ... http://manyfinancenews.com/macy%e2%80%99s-stock-falls-slightly-on-downgrade/